Luke 13:17 in 8 translations
7 distinct wordings, grouped by what each translation is trying to do. Differences from the King James text are marked below.
Early modern English
Seventeenth-century wording and sentence shape. Familiar, rhythmic, and the version most quotations you have heard are taken from.
And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.
1611 / 1769 · Public domain · The Authorised Version, revised to the 1769 Blayney text. Includes the Apocrypha as printed in 1611.
Literal, word-for-word
Follows Hebrew and Greek word order and grammar closely, even where the English becomes stiff. Useful for seeing what the underlying sentence is doing.
And as he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame: and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And as he said these things, all who were opposed to him were ashamed; and all the crowd rejoiced at all the glorious things which were being done by him.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
And he saying these things, all who were opposed to him were being ashamed, and all the multitude were rejoicing over all the glorious things that are being done by him.
1898 · Public domain · The most extreme word-for-word rendering here, keeping Hebrew and Greek tense and word order at the cost of natural English.
Modern English
Contemporary vocabulary and punctuation, aiming for the sentence a present-day reader would write while staying close to the source.
As he said these things, all his adversaries were disappointed, and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
These 2 editions word this verse identically.
As he said this, his opponents all felt ashamed; but all the people rejoiced to see all the wonderful things that he was doing.
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
Simplified English
Built from a deliberately small vocabulary so the sense stays reachable for new readers and non-native speakers. Trades nuance for clarity.
And when he said these things, those who were against him were shamed, and all the people were full of joy because of the great things which were done by him.
1949 · Public domain · Written with roughly a thousand basic English words plus a small Bible vocabulary. The plainest reading available here.
What changes between the King James and modern wording
The modern rendering is printed below with every word that differs from the King James text marked, so the actual divergence is visible rather than left for you to spot.
As he said these things, all his adversaries were disappointed, and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.
Word-for-word swaps
- when→As
- ashamed→disappointed
- people→multitude
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.